Getting back into the school routine

I did not realize how easy I had it last year with only G in pre-school.  He went twice a week in the afternoon.  At first I did not like the schedule because pre-school did not start until 12:15pm and with M waking up later because he was still pretty young, there was never enough time to go anywhere or run any errands by the time everyone was up, fed and dressed.  The main problem was having to be back home in enough time to feed them lunch and clean up G for school (dirt just seems to jump on that child's clothes!) and then get him there by 12:15pm.  Well, we adjusted and we did it.  The teacher told me that we could do early registration the following year since G was now a student and I could register M at the same time.  Cool!!!  So, this year they are both in morning pre-school.  Watch what you wish for!!

Now that both boys are in school and both boys go in the morning it just seems so early!!  I have to keep reminding myself that this was the schedule that I chose.  I know that we will adjust but it is taking some work.  The biggest thing is making sure that they get up in the morning and have enough time to finish waking up.  Some mornings it works and other mornings we are rushing out and eating breakfast in the car.  The days that we are rushed are usually my fault because I stayed up too late the night before doing chores, laundry and stuff like that.  Then I oversleep.  We are still working on it.

The best mornings are when our Firefighter is home.  Then I just have to get one boy up and he stays home with the other one.  At times like that I can really appreciate the fire schedule.  It is nice having his help on the mornings that he is home.  He also gets to do things with the boys without taking time off of work if the activity falls on a non-shift day.  Those days are really nice too.

Fortunately, the boys love school and their teacher.  The same teacher teaches both classes on the opposite days.  The boys like to talk to each other about the toys in class and the projects that they do and where things are kept.  It is so cute to listen to them talk.

This is G on his first day of preschool last year.  He did not want a picture taken this year on his first day.  He was excited to go back but seemed a bit nervous too.  When we got there he went in with no problem.

M was so excited on his first day of school.  He went in with no tears!  He was also very excited with his bookbag.  I took the boys to the fabric store and they were able to pick out the appliques that they wanted on their bookbags.  M was real good about wanting to carry his bag into school.  He seems to really like having his own bookbag.

The kids have to hang up their coats and bookbags on a hook right outside of the classroom.  After watching G do it last year, M knew just what to do this year and he ran and did it before going into the classroom.  I cannot believe how fast my boys are growing up!

G had his first homework assignment to do.  He had to cover an empty oatmeal container with construction paper and then he could decorate it.  We covered it together but then he decorated it.  One day each week they bring the can to school with something in it that begins with the letter of the week.  G was very excited about this.  As soon as he finished decorating the container he wanted to find something that began with the letter A.  I said how about apple and he agreed right away.  However, he wanted to put the apple in the container that day and leave it there until this week when the container needed to be brought into school.  Eeewwww!  I told him that the apple may not make it.  However, his school last year at the orientation and the information night was giving out magnets with the school name on them and luckily they were in the shape of an apple.  It caught my eye on the refrigerator and when I suggested that he use the apple magnet he was quite happy with it.  I hope that he always wants to get his homework done a week in advance.

So, as I am sitting here typing this I am also thinking about the load of laundry in the dryer and the fact that the garbage has to still go out and there are a few dishes left in the sink yet.  I also need to get to bed at a decent time so that I will not oversleep in the morning.

Overall we are adjusting to the new schedule.  The boys are actually doing better than I thought they would with getting up early every morning.  I am just glad that they enjoy school and that they have such a wonderful teacher!